35
Art major students were tropping into Chan's theater hall, the next morning as lectures were about to start and April was sipping a smoothie as she walked to the hall when Jasmine joined her, from the turning coming from the third floor.
"It's a surprise. You look good this morning." She complimented on their way to class.
"Really? I have a date with Chris, this afternoon." Jasmine replied and April nodded with a snort.
"I wish you best of luck, then."
"Thanks...But by the way, don't you think Tahti has lost it after ending things with Demir? She totally got busted by the professor, the other day."
"I noticed she does seem a little strange, these days." April replied.
"She has been working late, but there's no progress, so far."
"I know, right?" April asked, with a sigh. "Why did she have to get in a relationship? And with Demir of all people? Things would have been better if it was an actual relationship."
"Well, I guess it's because she liked him." Jasmine said and April turned to her, a scowl on her face.
"That's the same thing. Why would you like someone when you know you will only get hurt? Why hurting yourself when you're going to end up like a loser when it's all over? It's really pathetic." She said, with a sigh. "You should be careful too, Jasmine." She finished drily, with a hair flip, which Jasmine felt was to flaunt her newly dyed hair.
"Goodness, Chris and I are totally fine..." Jasmine was saying when they entered the hall and her voice trailed off on seeing Derek on one of the chairs in the hall, his head pillowed on his arms. "And there's another victim of love, over there."
April followed her eyes and she frowned, when she realized she was talking about Derek.
"Are you taking about Derek Wright?...Did something happen?"
"Do you remember set him up on a blind date? I thought it was going on well until my friend rejected him." She paused to shake her head. "I feel so sorry for him."
April blinked hard, unable to believe her ears. "So you're saying he's like that because he got rejected by your friend?"
"Yeah."
"Hey, is your friend that attractive?" She scoffed and Jasmine blinked, in surprise as she turned to her. "To be honest, your so called friend didn't look pretty when..."
"What the...? Have you seen her?"
April swore silently as she gnawed on her lower lip. Jasmine would get all suspicious if she told her the truth.
"No, I'm just saying... Derek's good-looking, so why would she turn him down?"
"I know, right?...But I don't think I should set up any more blind dates. They will probably turn out to be worse." She said and hurried over to one of the seats in the hall, before Derek could spot her and April rolled her eyes.
"Darn it."
Tahti tightly held on to her bag as she raced up the first flight of stairs, leading to the Chan's lecture hall. She'd had trouble sleeping the previous night, as her mind had been occupied with thoughts of "you know who", which had resulted in her waking up late the following morning.
Demir was descending the second flight of stairs, when she arrived the riser. How handsome he looked, her eyes decided the minute they swept over him and she stiffened on noticing he had put his hair down. What was he...?
She clamped her teeth down in her jaw, reminding herself that there was no need to concern herself with his matters anymore.
He looked like he was going to say something and Tahti decided to speak up first, having decided not to have anything with him any longer.
"I was thinking of returning the jewelry box to you."
"You can just throw it away,then." He returned drily, and she frowned. He had said the same thing after she wanted to return back his shirt and she wondered how he could say something like that, after he had gone through the stress of getting something for her.
"You say that so easily."
His phone rang, just then and he raised the phone to look at the caller ID, before he glanced her way. She couldn't see who it was, as his phone was tilted towards him and she tore her eyes off him as he answered the call.
"Hey, Stella."
Stella? A scowl crossed her face as she turned to him. What had she expected? She asked, silently. A leopard would never change its' spots, so how could someone like him? It was asking for the impossible.
Reminding herself that she had a class to attend, she brushed past him and ascended the stairs, hurrying to class.
The crew gathered to have a meeting to have a meeting concerning their workshop, a while later, after class for the day was over.
April kept going back and forth on the things she'd said earlier, in a bid to frustrate Derek, who was typing them down, into yelling at her for a change, as he hadn't said a word to her in days.
"The fee should be about fifty dollars each, so let's just go with the place we changed to. At least, that's cheaper." She said and her eyes moved to Derek, who was yet to say a word, since they had started the meeting. "Derek, are you writing this down?"
Derek didn't respond and Herley, who was seated next to Derek, leaned over to have a look for her. "Yup."
"Okay, that's it for today." She said and the crew yelled their excitement. The meeting had been long overdue for a conclusion but no one dared to question April.
"Should we go out for drinks later?" Ramiel asked.
"What should we get for today?"
"Let's settle for vodka."
"Sure, let's go."
"Should we call the others?" Chris asked.
"Others? Who? Remember what happened the last time you called so many people?" Jasmine asked and Derek slammed his laptop shut, before he rose.
"Derek, aren't you coming?" April asked.
"No." He replied and Jasmine sighed.
"What do I do? He must have really liked her." She said and April scowled as she turned to her.
"Jasmine, I think you should talk to your friend." Herley said.
"I guess I have to."
Demir walked out of the pharmacy in the hospital, that afternoon and walked over to join Stella, where she was seated by the door to the exit.
"How do you feel? Are you okay?" He asked as he sat.
"Yeah, thanks." She replied before she turned to him. "How much was the bill?"
"It's fine...You have severe anemia. Make sure to take your meds." He said and she dragged her eyes off him, with a sigh.
"It's so bothersome."
"You could faint on the streets, Stella." He said. England hadn't changed her a bit as she was still as stubborn as she was, when they used to date. She turned towards him again. "You put your hair down today, it suits you."
"Really?" He asked, sighing his appreciation. If he didn't know her better, he would think her changing the subject to be rude. "Then I guess, I should keep putting it down then."
"Why do I have a feeling that something is going on?"
"What do you mean?" He asked and she tore her eyes off him.
"You changed your number and did the same thing to your hair too...Something's wrong, am I right?"
Demir sighed as he dropped his head back. He couldn't hide his emotions from her. "It's nothing much. I just got sick of things..."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm sick of myself."
